Book

Political systems of highland Burma: a study of Kachin social structure

Harvard University PressCambridge • Published In 1954 • Pages:

By: Leach, Edmund Ronald.

Abstract
This book is concerned with the Kachin and Shan population of North-East Burma. By the author's admission, the ethnographic information is neither detailed nor new, but rather serves as a vehicle for demonstrating what Leach describes as an oscillation between one Kachin 'republican' political system (gumlao) and the Shan 'aristocratic' system. In this description, the native concepts of territorial division, kinship, ownership, the supernatural and authority are discussed. The Appendices are documents offered in support of Leach's 'oscillation' theory. In view of this treatment of the ethnographic data, it is essential that the reader familiarize himself with category 121, before use of other categories is attempted. Chapter IV, i.e., pp. 63ff, is marked with the unnumbered subheading 'Hpalang', in order to delineate the continuity of the categories used. The author did field work among the peoples about whom he writes. He also served in the Burma Army from 1940-45, much of which time was spent in Northern Burma. Dr. Leach did his academic work in the University of London.
Subjects
Community structure
Form and rules of government
Cultural participation
Water supply
Tillage
Topography and geology
Ethnic stratification
Behavior toward non-relatives
Land use
Territorial hierarchy
Cereal agriculture
Ethnosociology
Territorial hierarchy
Status, role, and prestige
Form and rules of government
Production and supply
Linguistic identification
Settlement patterns
Classes
Functional and adaptational interpretations
culture
Kachin
HRAF PubDate
2012
Region
Asia
Sub Region
Southeast Asia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
W. Carr ; 1956
Field Date
1939-1940
Coverage Date
1930-1954
Coverage Place
Kachin State, Burma
Notes
E. R. Leach ; With a foreword by Raymond Firth
Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-318)
LCCN
a 54008852
LCSH
Kachin (Asian people)
Ethnology--Burma